Tag Archives: Kenner

#4021: Undercover Bruce Wayne

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

UNDERCOVER BRUCE WAYNE

THE NEW BATMAN ADVENTURES (KENNER)

Secret identities are a fixture of the traditional super hero set-up, but when it comes to the merchandising fixture of said set-up, they aren’t the most exciting thing to put out there, which can prove a little bit tricky.  But, if the super hero’s popular enough, they might be able to leverage it.  So, Batman’s alter-ego Bruce Wayne?  Pretty safe bet.  Bruce was one of the earliest secret identity figures, as part of the Montgomery Ward-exclusive mail-away set done by Mego.  And, through the magic of media tie-ins, he got quite a few figures under the guidance of Kenner as well.  Here’s the last of those!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Undercover Bruce Wayne was part of the second run of Kenner’s The New Batman Adventures tie-in line in 1998.  He was the other notable “new” figure alongside last week’s Creeper.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and has 5 points of articulation.  The figure’s sculpt was based on Bruce’s updated, slightly more suave look from TNBA (which was subsequently carried over into Justice League and Justice League Unlimited), so the sculpt was a complete departure from earlier animated Bruce figures.  It was a totally unique offering, though it would be repainted twice, once for the Return of Joker line, and once for one of Hasbro’s four-packs.  The head is a spot-on recreation of Bruce’s show design, and just generally a strong offering.  Below the neck is a different story.  Much like the Superman: The Animated Series Quick Change Superman, the desire for some sort of a quick change feature means that the civilian guise sort of takes on some adjustments.  In Bruce’s case, he gets an overcoat over his standard suit and tie.  It’s generally not a terrible look (sculpturally, at least; I’ll discuss it more in the color work section), though it’s perhaps a bit bulky.  The whole coat piece is an overlay, which can be removed revealing a variation on the Batman suit beneath.  There’s some interesting touches, like the boots having a double cuff thing going on, so that they can look like suit pants when the coat is in place.  In terms of color work, there are some definite choices here.  There’s some more minor stuff, like he’s a bit more pale than on the show, and also lacks his rather distinctive blue eyes from the redesign, but by far the strangest thing is the decision to make the overcoat a bright red color, which feels out of place (Kenner for some reason liked to tie Bruce to red; the original animated line Bruce to Batman and the Mask of the Phantasm Decoy Batman both also use a lot of red), especially because the Batman suit ends up being predominantly red as a result.  The Return of Joker variant made it even worse, shifting it to a neon orange, but the four-pack version swapped it for grey, which was far more appealing shade.  Bruce was packed with a cape/cowl combo, a pair of armored gauntlets, and a weird secret identity shield thing.  The cape and cowl are nice, but the gauntlets are kind of clunky, and I don’t even know what the point of the shield is, but I also kind of like it.  There was even an extra selection of identities printed on the cardback, which you could clip and slide over the standard decal.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had a real want for this figure when he was first released, and I remember putting a lot of effort into getting one.  It was, I believe, after my birthday, and I’d gotten some “Geoffrey Dollars” (Toys “R” Us’ pre-cursor to gift cards), so I remember going to a bunch of TRUs and only finding Creeper, but none of this guy.  I finally ended up finding him at a different store, so I couldn’t use the Geoffrey Dollars, but my parents spotted me the actual cash, and I guess I used the Geoffrey Dollars for something else.  He’s goofy, but also the best version of Bruce that Kenner did during their tenure.  Bright red overcoat aside, he’s honestly not bad.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0067: Luke Skywalker – Ceremonial Outfit

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , , ,

LUKE SKYWALKER — CEREMONIAL OUTFIT

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

It’s Friday!  Welcome to Friday!  We made it Friday!  I mean, I hope.  I’m writing this on Sunday, and really just hoping for the best here, because boy has it sure been touch and go, huh?  But let’s not think about that.  Let’s think about the past, specifically mine, as we flashback for another figure addendum, with a return to Luke!

“In the main throne room of a Massassi temple, Luke Skywalker receives an honorary medal for his part in the destruction of the Imperial Death Star.”

There’s a lot of potential Luke Skywalker variants out there. He got one distinct design for each movie, plus his pilot gear, and at least one other major look for each film. For A New Hope, he actually has four distinct looks. My personal favorite is one that doesn’t actually appear for all that long; it’s the snazzy dress outfit he wears during the film’s final scene, set during an award ceremony. It’s had less figures than other looks, but as a variant of Luke Skywalker, it’s still had its fair share.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Luke Skywalker in his Ceremonial Outfit was released as part of the 1997 assortment of Star Wars: Power of the Force II. He was the seventh of the eleven Lukes in the line, and the second-to-last unique outfit, prior to the line switching over to variations of Farmboy Luke. It was actually one of two Ceremonial Lukes released in 1997, the other being part of the Princess Leia Collection. It was a good year for a look that hadn’t yet seen an action figure release. The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and has 6 points of articulation. This Luke marked the debut of Kenner’s second POTF2 Luke head sculpt. As noted in the past, it’s not really much closer than the first attempt at a Hamill likeness, but I do tend to prefer this one. The rest of the sculpt is unique to this particular figure. As far as this line goes, it was pretty solid. Sharp detailing, reasonable proportions, and a fairly neutral stance, all of which add up to an above average figure from this particular line. The paintwork on Luke is pretty standard stuff, which is to say the colors are a good match for the film and the application is all sharp. There’s no slop to speak of, and everything stays within its appropriate lines. Luke was packed with a blaster pistol and his medal from the ceremony, which are both missing from my figure, sadly.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This was a fairly early Luke in my collection, and is probably one of the Power of the Force figures I purchased closest to his initial release. I got him from KB Toys, during a trip to the mall with my Grandmother. He was purchased alongside a whole bunch of others, but the others were all meant to stay at her house, with this guy being the one who would be going home with me. He’s remained a favorite of mine, and served as my go-to Luke for a good chunk of time. 

In 2017, I got pretty serious about making Power of the Force reviews a regular feature every other Saturday, and by March of 2018, when this review was originally published, I’d kept it going for quite a while.  I pretty much managed to keep it that way until March of 2020, when, you know, everything fell apart.  This was before my big dive back into the line, mind you, so I thought I was actually getting close to wrapping things up.  Quaint.  My actual review feels pretty basic, but not bad.  Missing at the time were his two accessories, which are now his once more.  Check out that medal and blaster action!

#4019: Luke Skywalker in Endor Gear

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

LUKE SKYWALKER in ENDOR GEAR

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“The Star Wars Mint is officially re-instituted with this limited edition series! New gold-colored coins feature character images from the classic silver-colored coin release-all with brand new reverse-side stampings specially designed for this exclusive commemorative offering.”

If you haven’t gathered by this point, there’s a running theme with the Power of the Force reviews that at a certain point, Kenner was so desperate to have more product to sell in the ‘90s that they were literally come up with just about every excuse to throw a figure in the box with something.  The height of it’s definitely the computer game, but they also revisited some old favorites from the original line, namely coins.  Yes, it’s like printing money…you know, expect it’s not actually legal tender in any sense of the word.  But coins!  Like before!  Also, it provided a fantastic excuse to once more release several of the heavy hitters, which was always a great idea.  So, here’s Luke Skywalker, yet again!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Luke Skywalker in Endor Gear was part of the “Millennium Minted Coins” sub-line of Star Wars: Power of the Force II, a Toys “R” Us exclusive set of deluxe release figures, which were all dropped in 1998.  Luke was seen here, as noted by the name, in his Endor Gear from Return of the Jedi, a look that had been released alongside the Speeder Bike the year prior, but hadn’t gotten a “single” release.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  Structurally, there’s undoubtedly similarities between the two releases of this look, but there’s not quite as much parts re-use as you might expect.  It’s ultimately just the head and poncho, which is honestly not a terrible set-up.  The poncho’s made of a stiffer material this time around, so it’s detailing is a little sharper, and it holds its shape a little better.  The underlying body is new, and it’s not bad.  A little pre-posed, but not to a crazy degree, and it properly gets his sans-vest look.  It’s honestly a little surprising that Kenner never threw a non-helmeted head on this body for a more standard final duel Luke, but I suppose the line has kind of hitting critical mass here.  The paint work is notably quite refined for this release.  Kenner put the extra price on these figures into the paint, and that’s especially notable on Luke’s poncho, which has a lot more variation than the vehicle pack-in, and is generally closer to the pattern seen in the movie.  Luke gets a version of his green lightsaber, as well as the coin that was the selling point of this whole thing, along with a pretty cool stand for both Luke and the Coin.  The coin itself if a replica of the original Luke in Endor Gear coin, but now gold, and with a generic backing, rather than the one with writing on it.  It’s honestly a pretty cool piece, and I appreciate the included stand, so that I don’t just have to sort of prop it up somewhere awkwardly.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I wasn’t much of a Toy “R” Us kid in the ‘90s, and I certainly wasn’t looking for slight variations of figures I already had to get an extra piece I wouldn’t have cared about as a kid, so I didn’t have any of these as a kid.  Luke here was actually the first of them I tracked down, by a good margin.  I got him several years ago, when pulling items from a larger Power of the Force collection.  As has become the theme with my more recent PotF reviews, he’s been sealed most of that time, and I finally opened him up in preparation for this review.  I wasn’t expecting much of him, and was mostly just buying him to complete my run, but he’s actually a really nice figure, that genuinely improves on the prior release, and feels like a slight step-up from the main line.  The coin’s also not as silly and pointless as I’d expected, so I kind of dig the whole thing.

#4017: The Creeper

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

THE CREEPER

THE NEW BATMAN ADVENTURES (KENNER)

You know, I can’t believe this, but going back to double-check some numbers, I realized that this will be the third time I’ve talked about the Creeper here on the site, which feels like a really high number.  Sure, I like the Creeper fine, but three times?  When he’s only got six figures total?  Weird.  Am I gonna have to track down those other three Creepers now?  No, I really can’t.  I can’t do it, guys.  Right, so today, I’m looking back at the Creeper, a very rare instance of Steve Ditko (of Spider-Man and Doctor Strange fame) creating a character for DC outright, rather than creating it for someone else and then just having them purchase it later.  Originally, he had no notable ties to any other major DC heroes, but in the ‘90s, he inexplicably showed up in The New Batman Adventures, getting his own focus episode “Beware the Creeper,” which re-worked his origin story to include Batman and the Joker.  And he also got his first action figure* that way!  Yay!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Creeper was released as part of Kenner’s The New Batman Adventures tie-in line, hitting with the second push of product in 1998.  He was one of two notable “new” figures, the other being Bruce Wayne.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  He had an all-new sculpt, based on his design from the show.  In terms of accuracy, this one’s pretty good.  I mean, in general, TNBA’s tie-in figures were more on-model than earlier Kenner offerings, but Creeper in particular sticks very close to his animated counterpart.  While he’s still doing the line’s general “just standing there” posing, he’s got a lot of character in his stance, with crazed hands, and a notable hunch, which his neck extended forward.  His head sculpt matches well with the character’s on-screen likeness, translating his pretty nicely into three dimensions.  His signature boa is a separate piece here, which is sort of an odd choice, but to their credit, it’s molded to his torso in such a way that it actually stays in place pretty well.  His paint work is generally very basic, but it does well.  Mine’s taken a bit of wear over the years, but not tremendously so, so he ultimately looks pretty good even now.  It’s interesting that his hair is black, rather than having any sort of green to it, but that’s the approach they took with this line’s Joker as well, so it’s not too out there.  Creeper was packed with a television camera, referencing Jack Ryder’s role as a reporter on the show.  The plate on the back can be slid to show Jack, or flipped over to reveal Creeper.  The whole thing also turns into a bit cannon of some sort, because why not?  I do quite like that the missile is designed to resemble a microphone.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I saw this figure a great many times when he was new, and did *not* buy him…largely because I was really looking for that Bruce Wayne, who was more desirable at the time, meaning every store had not Bruce, and a whole peg of Creeper.  I caught his episode of the show after he’d disappeared from retail, so when I wanted one, I had to get a little help from Cosmic Comix.  He’s easily one of the best figures from this line.  He’s on model, he’s unique, and he’s got a gimmicky accessory that’s on brand and also not intrusive, which is all super cool.

*Though it almost wasn’t his first; Creeper was on the shortlist of figures had Kenner’s Super Powers continued in the ‘80s, and would have made his debut there.

#4015: Cruisemissile Trooper

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

CRUISEMISSILE TROOPER

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

Can you believe there was a time when a toymaker felt that there weren’t enough characters and concepts in the Star Wars movies to keep a toyline going, and decided to introduce their own?  Well, okay, there were actually a couple of times.  During the vintage run, Kenner had come up with some in-house creations, notably the “mini rigs”, which were smaller scale vehicles, and they had even proposed a continuation of line post-Jedi that would have used new concepts.  By the ‘90s, though, things were more locked down…apart from one particularly odd-ball item, dubbed the Cruisemissile Trooper.  Based on nothing seen in the films or any other official material, the Cruisemissile Trooper is nevertheless the modern line’s first Expanded Universe offering…such as it is.  But what is it?  Well, let’s explore that.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Cruisemissile Trooper was released under the Power of the Force II banner in 1997, officially as part of the vehicles line-up, though exactly how he’s classified can be a bit touchy.  It’s a vehicle, for sure, but there’s also a figure worked into it, and he’s not actually removable.  Also, the name very much suggests that the Trooper himself is the main focus, with the actual ship not getting its own name proper.  Whatever its distinctions, the whole contraption measures just over 10 inches long, has 4 points of articulation (where hinged flaps can fold out) and a sliding plate to reveal the Trooper’s head.  The actual Trooper is scaled to match the 3 3/4 inch figures of the main line (albeit only being an upper half; there aren’t actually any legs in there), and has a proper neck joint, as well as joints on the shoulders that move, but are too loose to hold an actual pose.  The figure’s sculpt is clearly patterned on the basic TIE Pilot sculpt, though he’s been modified to work better within the context of the Cruisemissile set-up.  Said set-up is a big, flat, pointy, arrowhead shaped thing that wraps all around the figure.  It looks a bit like a Star Destroyer got ‘90s-ized…which I suppose is fairly accurate.  There’s a lot of panelling and grates.  I don’t know that it *quite* lands the Imperial aesthetic, but it wouldn’t look entirely out of place with prequel era offerings.  You can fold out the back to reveal a pair of missile launchers, while the front flaps fold out from underneath to form wings.  Pushing back the slide towards the back pulls back the “hood”, allowing the spring-loaded trooper to pop his head up.  This was a gimmick that Kenner was fond of in ’97, offering a similarly-styled set of vehicles in their Batman & Robin tie-in line.  Color-wise, the vehicle is a lot of grey and silver, with some red thrown in for a bit of pop.  There were a fair number of decals, which kept it consistent in styling with the other vehicles of the time.  The Trooper is painted, albeit very basically, and is mostly white, which is a good contrast from the TIE Pilots.  The set included two missiles, but no other extras to speak of.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t have a Cruisemissile Trooper as a kid.  I think I recall one of my friends having one?  I definitely had the equivalent Robin vehicle from the Batman & Robin line, so I was familiar with the concept, prior to tracking one of these down as an adult.  I say “tracking one down,” but in actuality, it’s one of those items that just landed in front of me at the right time.  I don’t know entirely what I think of it. It’s such a goofy idea, and it’s kind of unclear what it’s supposed to be, or how it ties into anything else.  It feels like they started with the gimmick and worked their way backwards, and never quite found their footing.  Not having any sort of follow-up to it doesn’t help, I suppose.  It’s just this one-off piece, a remnant of a direction the line *could* have gone, but didn’t, a lot like the early deluxe figures from the line.  I can’t say it’s not a fun toy, and I certainly found myself fiddling with it a lot during my review process, which isn’t a bad sign.  It’s just…odd.  I’ll take odd over boring, though.

#4013: Metallo

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

METALLO

SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (KENNER)

Early in the production of Batman: The Animated Series, the producers realized that, if they intended for the show to have a long run, they’d need to rely on a deeper stable of foes than just the heavy hitters from Batman’s rogues gallery.  To help with this, they put effort into rebuilding some of the more obscure characters into antagonists of depth equal to their more popular counterparts (with their revamp of Mr. Freeze serving as perhaps the most successful case of this).  When the same team moved onto Superman: The Animated Series, they took a similar approach to Superman’s rogues.  One of the beneficiaries was Metallo, who was granted a new design and a revamped and more streamlined origin story, resulting in a fan-favorite, who also got an action figure along the way.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Metallo was released in Series 4 of Kenner’s Superman: The Animated Series line.  As with the rest of the assortment, his domestic release was handled by Diamond Distributors, as US retailers had bailed on the line after Series 2.  He was re-released with a slight paint tweak as part of a four-pack, which also included Supergirl and Bizarro from the same assortment.  The figure seen here is the original single release.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  He’s got the standard movement for the line, which is the usual Kenner 5 POA, plus a waist swivel.  Metallo’s sculpt was all-new to him, and would remain unique, apart from the previously mentioned boxed set version.  It’s generally a pretty good one.  The STAS figures were all a slight departure from the show designs, but Metallo sticks closer than most.  His legs are maybe a little bulky, but that’s really it.  Otherwise, he recreates the show’s updated design for the character nicely.  The strongest parts are the exposed portions of his robotic skeleton, which sticks very close to the animation model.  The human portion of the head is a little more detailed than the animation model, but feels consistent with the character, enough that it’s pretty clearly the same guy.  The rest of the sculpt is clean and basic, which is what it needs to be.  His chest features the cavity that holds his Kryptonite heart; the cover is on a hinge, and pushing the button on his back pushes the heart forward, making it “beat” and opening the cover to reveal it.  It’s not quite the way it works on the show, but it’s a cool enough gimmick to feel worth it.  Metallo’s paint work is generally on point.  The general color work is basic, but matches his coloring from the show well.  The robotic side gets some really nice accenting, with the only small slip-up being that they didn’t paint the remnant of his shirt cuff the correct tan color.  Otherwise, it looks really cool.  Metallo was packed with a somewhat goofy hover bike thing, which also doubles as a really big shoulder cannon thing.  Either way, it’s got a missile that it can launch, which is silly, but fun.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As a kid, I remember how hard this assortment was to get, Metallo especially.  A friend of my parents had a display in his house with all of his DCAU figures, and Metallo was one of them, and one that I was always particularly fascinated by.  At some point, my dad took note of this fascination, and tracked one down on eBay, and thus I had my own Metallo.  This guy got a lot of play time when I was a kid, and remained one of my favorites.  Revisiting him, I still very much like him.  There were a lot of compromises made on these figures, but Metallo has very few of them, and it results in a fairly accurate figure, which is also just quite a bit of fun.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0065: Luke Skywalker in Stormtrooper Disguise

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , , , ,

LUKE SKYWALKER in STORMTROOPER DISGUISE

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

Welcome to the end of another week!  Once more it’s Friday, which means it’s time for another Flashback Friday Figure Addendum!  Jumping back over to the Star Wars side of things, I’m revisiting Luke Skywalker, of the disguised as a Stormtrooper variety!

 “Disguised as stormtroopers and fighting off a regiment of Imperial troops inside the Death Star, the escaping band of heroes finds refuge in a garbage receptacle. The Rebels realize their problem has changed when the walls begin closing in.”

So, apparently there was this movie released yesterday. Star Wars? Kind of a big deal I guess. While I’m still totally up to date on the actual Last Jedi stuff in my collection, I still have plenty of older figures in the backlog. And, since I looked at the Stormtrooper Disguise Han Solo two weeks ago, why not take a looksie at his companion Luke figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Luke Skywalker as Stormtrooper was released in the 1996 assortment of Power of the Force II, as that year’s third variant of Luke, and the fifth overall Luke in the line. This was our second Stormtrooper Disguise Luke, following the one released in the original Power of the Force line. He’s about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation. Despite how it may look, the only re-used piece on this guy is the torso, which is the same one used on the Stormtrooper Han. Nevertheless, he’s still the same height as Han and the basic troopers, meaning he’s not actually short for a Stormtrooper. Instead of Han’s more pre-posed look, Luke has a more generic standing pose, which looks decent enough. He still follows the general style of the line, so he’s far more muscle bound than any of the troopers we see on screen. But, like I said with Han, if you’re gonna have the style, I guess it’s best to stick with it. His head is a re-working of the early PotF2 Luke head. It’s not one of the better Hamill likenesses, but it’s not as terrible as some of the early sculpts. Plus, it means he fits with the rest of them, which I suppose is for the best. The paint on Luke is fairly straight forward stuff. It’s pretty clean overall, and matches up with the rest of the line pretty well. Luke was packed with a removable helmet (the same one included with Han) and a standard Stormtrooper blaster. It’s a pretty standard set of extras, but more than one accessory is always nice with a Star Wars figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After getting Han as a mail-away, I was on the look out for this guy. It took him a little while to hit, but I ended up finding him at Another Universe, the comic book store in the local mall. I was pretty excited for him, and he makes for a pretty cool pairing with Han to be sure.

This review went up the day after the release of The Last Jedi.  It would have most certainly been written before I saw the movie, more than likely a week or two in advance.  I had no idea at the time what kind of response we were in for.  Man, what a wonderfully blissful time that was, huh?  As far as the actual review, this one was pretty well on point.  I think he’s generally an okay figure, albeit a rather dated one.  The only thing missing from my original was his blaster rifle, which I’ve since replaced.  Yay, he can shoot people now.  Also, for some reason I didn’t have turnarounds for this guy, so I’m adding those too!

#4011: Pote Snitkin

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

POTE SNITKIN

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“Pote Snitkin worked as a helmsman for Jabba the Hutt. The Skrilling piloted one of Jabba’s desert skiffs before foolishly battling Jedi Luke Skywalker over the Great Pit of Carkoon.”

There are a great many Star Wars characters with multiple action figures under their belt.  Even some of the more minor ones.  In particular, the earlier you are in the run of the line, the more likely it is that there are other versions of the characters.  Power of the Force has a lot of characters who are prone to multiple releases, but there are a few unique ones in the mix.  Today, I’m looking at one of the unique ones, Pote Snitkin, a rather minor character from the Jabba sequence at the beginning of Return of the Jedi.  Let’s take a look at Pote!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Pote Snitkin is the last of the four figures in the Fan Club assortment of Star Wars: Power of the Force II from 1998.  He is also, notably, the last single carded figure from the line that I’m reviewing here on the site, which is pretty nifty.  The figure a little over 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  While he’s got the standard articulation set-up for the line, he’s notably pretty restricted by how the sculpt is laid out with it all.  The neck joint in particular is without much range, and the shoulders don’t do much in the default configuration.  That said, his outer poncho piece is removable, which frees up the shoulders a bit more.  The actual sculpt quality is quite strong.  He’s got a lot of depth, with plenty of texture work.  He very much feels at home in the lived-in look of the Star Wars universe, and exhibits some of the most in depth sculpting of the line at this time.  Pote’s got a decent build to him, being notably bigger and bulkier than the standard figure, which just gives the sculpting more of a canvas to work with.  He’s a little bit pre-posed, especially on the arms, but it’s all rather natural, and he looks fine just standing.  Pote’s color work is, much like the sculpt, quite strong.  The base colors seem a decent match for the movie, and he gets a pretty nice selection of accenting, which helps to further emphasize the level of sculpted detailing.  Pote is packed with a force pike, a blaster rifle, and a Freeze Frame…that doesn’t actually have Pote in it…since it’s apparently his “view” of Luke clearing the skiff.  Kind of an odd choice, but there it is.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had none of the Fan Club figures as a kid, as I didn’t actually know they existed, so Pote was not for child Ethan.  Pote’s not for most of the Ethans up to this point, because it actually took me a little bit to get one.  He’s easily the least frequently appearing of the four figures, I’m sure in no small part due to this being his only figure.  As it happens, Pote is, as touched on above, the last single carded figure I needed for my set, who I finally managed to snag on eBay.  He’s a really strong figure, actually, quite possibly the line’s finest sculpt.  There’s a lot to like there, and it’s aged very well, while still feeling right at home with the rest of the line.  Feels like a pretty fitting final single to pick up.

#4007: Ree-Yees

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

REE-YEES

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“Even with a court full of conspirators, Jabba the Hutt never suspected Ree-Yees as a potential assassin. Ree-Yees cut a deal with the Empire to destroy Jabba, but fate would save that role for Princess Leia.”

Missed it by *that* much.  Like, do you ever think that Ree-Yees tried to play it off to the Empire like he was actually somehow responsible for the deed?  Just to see how far he could take it?  I mean, who could blame him.  Well, the Empire, I guess.  And they have a history of being less than pleasant to the people that cross them.  Don’t do it Ree-Yees, you’ve got so much to live for!  Or maybe you don’t.  I don’t really know you all that well.  I have your action figure though.  Let’s review that!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ree-Yees was released in the final 1998 assortment of Star Wars: Power of the Force II.  The final assortment was largely repacks, with the only actually new figures being Ree-Yees here and the Death Star Trooper.  Given general diminishing interest in the line at the time, as well as the heavy repacking, Ree-Yees and the Trooper were both rather rare at retail, at least at the time.  The Trooper was at least given an identical re-release as part of a weapons pack, but Ree-Yees was not so lucky, so he remained one of the more rare pieces from the line.  Of course, we’re still playing by PotF pricing rules, so he’s not exactly going to break the bank.  The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  His sculpt was unique to him, at least at the start.  It did wind up re-used for the Disney Parks-exclusive Star Tours version of Ree-Yees, but it’s still the same guy.  It’s actually a pretty nice sculpt.  The details are all really sharp, and it matches up well to his design in the movie.  He’s got a bit of pre-posing, but it’s not a bad set-up, and he ultimately looks pretty natural just standing there.  The figure’s color work is cleanly handled.  I quite like the metallic purple shade on his outfit; it’s pretty unique and stands out with the other figures.  Ree-Yees is packed with two different blasters, as well as a Freeze Frame slide showing Ree-Yees on Jabba’s Sail Barge.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In all my years tracking down Power of the Force figures, I think I’ve seen Ree-Yees in the wild once?  He doesn’t show up often, and I wasn’t in a position to buy him at the time, so I didn’t, and kind of regretted it.  He’s been on my list since, but, as I neared the end, I ultimately broke down and bought him on eBay, because he was a good price, and, well, I still needed him.  He’s probably one of the stronger alien figures from this line, so he feels like he was worth the wait.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0063: TIE Fighter Pilot

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , ,

TIE FIGHTER PILOT

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

Hey-o, and welcome to the end of the week! We did it again, you guys!  Here we are! It’s Friday, so it’s a beautiful day for some addendum-ing!  Let’s flip back over to the world of Star Wars and take a follow-up look at the TIE Fighter Pilot!

“With its vast space fleet, the Imperial Navy is a model of military efficiency. The best pilots in its ranks are rigorously trained to useto use highly maneuverable and heavily armed Twin Ion Engine (TIE) fighters. The small ships are used to both attack – and defend against – Rebel forces.”

Do I have to turn in my nerd card if I admit that until I read that bio in preparation for this review, I actually had no clue what TIE stood for? I kinda thought it was because they looked like bow ties. Now I know, and knowing is half the battle! Wait, wrong 3 3/4-inch-based franchise! Without further ado, let’s look at one of these Twin Ion Engine fighter pilots!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The TIE Fighter Pilot was released in 1996, during Power of the Force II’s second year. This marks the second time this design had been seen in plastic, following the vintage figure. The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and has 6 points of articulation, which was standard for the line. The figure’s sculpt was unique to him, and does a fairly decent job of capturing the TIE design from the movies. He’s surprisingly tame in his stylization and his pre-posing, and also helped by not having a likeness to really worry about. The lack of pre-pose is likely owed to his intended use with the actual TIE Fighter vehicle (which, fun fact, arrived on store shelves a year before this guy’s release), since too much of a pose would have made seating him in the ship rather difficult. I appreciate that the figure’s been designed in such a way as to keep his neck movement, by way of attaching the tubes and box to his head. It can look a little weird when turned to certain angles, but is by-and-large a well-worked out concept. The paint on this guy could have been rather lazy and un-inspired, but Kenner went the extra mile and added differing sheens to the various black tones, as well as making sure he has all of the proper insignias. It’s really quite remarkable work. This figure was packed with two different blasters, one large, and one small. Neither really seems to go with the figure, and mine has been without both for a little while.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When I was growing up, in addition to grandchild-specific gifts, both sets of grandparents would tend to go out and buy one smaller item in bulk, to give everyone that one same item. The TIE Fighter was one such gift, given to all of the grandkids on my Dad’s side one year for Christmas. We were all pretty into Star Wars at the time, so it was pretty sensible. While I’ve never really had a particular attachment to the TIE Fighter pilot, I do still really like this guy, and he’s always been a steady fixture of my collection.

This is another 2017 review, written in the midst of a rather hectic summer of multiple cross-country trips and a coast-line-spanning move.  I’d jumped back into Power of the Force with a batch of figures I’d gotten for cheap in February of that year, and moved onto the prior entries already in my collection.  In the midst of all the craziness, I’ll admit, I completely forgot the bit about what “TIE” stood for.  In one ear and out the other and all that.  The actual review covers the basics well-enough, I suppose.  He was at the time missing both of blasters, but I’ve since replaced them.  The larger one is particular comedic in its sizing, which I find quite amusing.